Adventists and Evangelicals Expect Statement of Common Goals
Representatives of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and the World Evangelical Alliance met in the US recently to hash out common goals in their second round of theological conversation on a world level.
Posted: Tuesday, August 14, 2007, 12:15 (BST)
Theologians representing the Seventh-day Adventist Church and the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) met August 5 to 10 at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan in the US, for their second round of theological conversation on a world level.
According to a joint statement, the Seventh-day Adventist Church and the WEA are expected to announce a joint statement within the next few months identifying the common goals and results of theological discussions between the two institutions.
Each organisation plans to vote on recommendations stemming from conversations when representatives met in Prague (Czech Republic) in August 2006 and at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan (USA) this month.
"We were able to share with the evangelical world the Adventist self-understanding in an effort to eliminate prejudice and clarify questions about our message," said meeting organiser John Graz, secretary of the Council on Interfaith Relations of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (CIRA).
"Instead of knowing about us through questionable means, this allowed us face-to-face interaction to share where our church stands," he said.
The two institutions shared a "large measure of theological agreement", said Angel Rodriguez, director of the Adventist Church's Biblical Research Institute. The discussions were led by Rolf Hille, chairman of the Theological Commission of the WEA, and William G Johnsson, assistant to the president of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists for Interfaith Relations.
This month's conversations followed an initial round of discussions between the two organizations held in Prague, Czech Republic, in August, 2006.
"Each denomination [in the WEA] has its own distinctive identity; it's not their goal to diminish the differences, but acknowledge them and respect them," Rodriguez said.
Adventist participants agreed with the WEA Statement of Faith, which focuses on the Bible as the Word of God, the Trinity, the person of Jesus Christ and his saving work, justification by faith, prayer, conversion, sanctification, and the Second Coming of Christ.
According to the release several areas of disagreement became apparent between the two organisations regarding Adventist teachings including pre-Advent judgment, the role and authority of Ellen G White, whose writings inspired Adventists, and the Sabbath as the day of worship for Christians.
However, participants concluded that common issues would allow Adventists and the WEA to cooperate on common issues, such as religious liberty, Graz said.
The WEA represents some 420 million Evangelical Christians from different denominations in 127 countries. The Adventist Church has 15 million members in more than 200 countries.
[Source: ADP]
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The comments below are readers' personal opinions and are in no way intended to reflect the editorial opinion of Christian Today.
Added: Friday, October 5, 2007, 20:46 (BST)
What amazes me most about people, who are very adamant about their beliefs, is that no matter what they are told regarding another person’s beliefs, they are always quick to judge. The bible says we all fall short of the glory of God so what gives someone the right to say what another person believes is wrong? It is one thing to convey your viewpoints to another person, but to tell someone that what they believe is wrong is WAY OUT OF LINE! I am in fact a Seventh Day Adventist, and have been as long as I can remember. I am only 15 years old and I have been told over a dozen times that what I think is truth is, in fact, wrong. One man told me that I would go to hell if I did not change my ways! I may not be an adult but I am strong in my faith and I don’t believe that God would ever turn his back on me because of what denomination I am apart of. Also, it not right to judge a group of people or religion in their entirety, because of the fact that no matter what denomination you are in, you will still have your personal values. That is what makes you an individual. In regards to Mrs. Ellen G. White, unless you have read her work you can not say weather she speaks the truth or not. I know that I am a Christian and a child of God no matter what you tell me. You can talk if you please, but know that I’ll be talking on my knees. I will be praying for you and your well-being weather you choose to accept your blessings or not.
Jeremy Smith, Waukegan, IL
Added: Tuesday, August 21, 2007, 11:41 (BST)
As a member of an Evangelical Church here in the Philippines, I would take the word of an unbiased Evangelical scholar like Walter Martin who said that "one can be an Adventist and still be a true Christian" over someone claiming to be a former Adventist trying to tinker and misrepresent Adventists just because he or she has an axe to grind.
I have many Adventist friends who truly love Christ and I can see that in their day to day living. For example, when a calamity occurs, they are often very fast in reponding to the needs of the victims - most of whom are not Adventists.
In our family, my brother became an Adventist last year and he's really on fire with the Lord! He is also a lot healthier since he quit drinking and smoking. Evangelicals have a lot to learn from Adventists specially in health and lifestyle matters. That is why we welcome our Adventist brothers and sisters in our Evangelical churches with their health and lifestyle seminars. One of our church elders recently became a vegetarian and he said this has vastly improved his health and he thanks the Adventists for coming over and teaching the health message based on the Bible. He said that if not for the Adventist Health and Lifestyle Seminar he attended, he would be dead by now. He is now doing health talks in other Evangelical churches and is helping a lot of people live healthier lives. He even speaks in some Adventist churches
from time to time to share his wonderful experience.
It is no secret that Adventists are among the fastest growing denomination this side of the world and I am not surprised at this fact. One in 85 Filipinos are Adventists and their members come from other denominations - Roman Catholics, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, other Christian groups like Baptists, Methodists, Pentecostals and Evangelicals.
I have also met former Evangelicals who are now active Adventists just like my brother and they are not bitter or resentful towards their former churches. My impression of them is that they take their faith more seriously now - even volunteering to reach places in far-away areas here and abroad to preach the Good News.
As far as I am concerned, I have long accepted Adventists as fellow believers in Jesus Christ and am very grateful for their share in building up the body of Christ. I have seen the love of Christ manifested in these people and I am thankful for the Christian love that they share with the rest of the world.
Amen!
Erwin , Quezon City, Philippines
Added: Saturday, August 18, 2007, 6:44 (BST)
In the 1950s, Cult Watcher Walter Martin met with leader from the Seventh-day Adventist Church to determine whether or not it was a cult. According to their own historian Geroge Knight, the SDA leaders published a book, Questions on Doctrine, to answer Martin's questions. They phrased their doctrinal explanations in such a way that Martin/Barnhouse were satisfied, but a large percentage of the church members felt betrayed. They specifically used obfuscation to prevent Martin from knowing the true Adventist belief that the blood of Jesus shed on the cross is not all that's necessary for salvation, that humans do not have a spirit that can know God (body + breath = living soul, goes the Adventist formula), that Sabbath will be required of all who are alive when Jesus returns or they will be lost, and that Jesus is even now "applying His blood" in the heavenly sanctuary as part of the investigative judgment which will determine which of those who have "accepted Christ" will actually be saved.
The church has never changed its doctrines, although it has "played" with words to sound evangelical. Today is no different; Adventism is the same as it has always been...it just has changed its externals where expedient.
If one want to know the truth about a decptive organization, one should not expect to find it from those who represent it. Just as those who have left Mormonism or Jehovah's Witnesses give ethe most detailed and accurate description of those organizations, just so an Adentist who has left the church for the sake of Jesus will give the most accurate picture of what the chuech REALLY is.
Colleen
Colleen Tinker, Redlands USA
Added: Friday, August 17, 2007, 17:13 (BST)
It is inexcusable that the author of this article about Adventists and Evangelicals meeting together highly embellished the public image of Seventh-day Adventists as now being "mainstream" Protestants. First of all, they cannot be considered as authentic Protestants due to their continued reliance upon the extra-biblical authority of their revered messenger and prophetess, Ellen G. White. Moreover, the WEA representatives were deceived by the Seventh-day Adventist apologists that they are come-lately Trinitarianians instead of outright Tritheists. Initially born into the heresy of Arianism, Seventh-day Adventist apologists still don't have an accurate understanding of historic Trinitarianism. They are clearly Tritheistic in many of their teachings.
Dennis Fischer, Lincoln, Nebraska USA
